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Sam.I.Am has a birthday on New Year's Day, which is wonderful!  But it's also hard.  We're usually tired (after being up late), people are "partied" out after the holidays and it's usually when we're packing things up and getting ready to go back to school.

So I felt like a brilliant Mom this year when I decided to have a party for him in early December.  It was the first "friend" party he's had, and he was SO excited.  To eliminate his asking me every day if it was "party day", I made a paper chain with major highlights like "Thanksgiving" and "school" and it ended on "Party Day" – we cut off a chain each night…it was a perfect way to keep the excitement up.

This was the party theme:

Our original idea was to heat the pool, but that day is was cool and sprinkling so we decided to heat only the hot tub instead which proved just as fun for a group of 4-5 year old's. 

I borrowed a bunch of polar bear decorations from a friend who LOVES polar bear (and has decorated her kids' rooms in that theme) – it made it really look like the North Pole!  We did polar bear cupcakes and each child got a scarf to keep warm when they came into our arctic playland!  We played "ice fishing"…Caleb was under the "water" hooking each person's cast with a prize while Jacob helped them with the pole.  We also did a penguin relay – where they had to hold a balloon between their legs.  Pretty cute.  Then, we had lunch (pb&j, ham, cheese sticks, cheese puffs, and fruit) and cupcakes.  Then we opened gifts, read a polar bear book, and finally, let them swim.

It was a perfect party for Samuel and a big success.  But boy was I tired at the end.  My mom came over to help and laughed as I plopped down on the couch after the children had left.  How do Kindergarten teachers do that?!